Reality TV shows anything but real

Debbie Peterson -- Staff Column

The term "Reality television" is not an accurate name for the programs that are now flooding America's television channels. Not even a soap opera could come up with a storyline comparable to "Who wants to marry a Millionaire's" presentation.

Coming across as more of a three ring circus than reality, these shows try to base their "realness" on the fact that unrehearsed dialogue takes place and raw human emotion is shown.

Yet, can it really be said that these programs are "real" when the editing almost surely occurs under entertainment-minded producers? These people want the American public to watch their shows, so they go to use whatever twists, fights, emotions or whatever they can to assure that we're watching. To me, that fact does not ensure truth, but instead ensures that the producers will use whatever angles available to ensure viewers watch.

Can they be called "reality" when some twenty women agree to compete for the love of one man? (Did I say love?....Maybe I should instead say money). This is a highly unusual scenario, but of course highly entertaining because women are just looking for the richest man possible anyway.

Yes, I was a little bitter about that. The first round of reality television was trying to determine if a woman would still stay with a man even if he lost all of his money, and the second round is trying to determine if a woman would stay with a man who has a wonderful personality even if he turns out to look like the missing link.

I do not even feel that I need to comment on the shallowness shown on the program "Are you hot?"

Why are these programs entertaining? Why do people like to watch others making a spectacle of themselves, people doing unmentionable things to survive in the wilderness or others who make emotional fools out of themselves? I think that people as a whole enjoy these programs because it gives them, the viewers, the chance to judge, comment upon, and almost control other people's lives. Everyday I hear comments about these shows, and banter about who should win and for what reasons. Even if they are not real, they give people something to talk about, like gossiping about what old friends from high school have done with their lives.

Yet, whether these speculations are true or not, I refuse to watch these shows. They do not do a good job of representing "reality" or even painting a good picture of humanity. There are just to many other "real" things that I could be doing.

---

Debbie Peterson can be reached at [email protected]